WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016

STATE | FROM PAGE 1 

STAR BEACON

A3

Court: 5 officers sued over chase injuries not liable

BY DAN SEWELL
Associated Press

CINCINNATI The
Ohio Supreme Court
ruled Tuesday that five
police officers sued by
a woman injured during
a high-speed chase are
immune from legal
liability.
There was disagreement among the
justices on immunity
standards.
The majority ruled

that officers chasing

suspects receive the
same level of immunity
provided by state law to
all government employees. Justice Judith
French wrote officers
couldnt be held liable
unless they acted in
a wanton or reckless
manner, adding that
no other public employee faces the potential
danger, violence or
unique statutory responsibilities (to appre-

hend criminals) that

police do.
We expect law enforcement officers to
protect the public, but
that expectation need
not mean that an officer
must sit idly by while a
suspect flees the scene
of a crime, particularly when the suspects
flight itself endangers
the general public further, she wrote.
She said lower courts
had improperly ex-

panded the immunity

to officers unless their
conduct was outrageous or extreme.
But she said the officers in this case were
entitled to immunity
because there was no
evidence they acted
maliciously, in bad faith
or recklessly.
Justice Sharon Kennedy agreed with the
courts judgment, but
disagreed with some of
the ruling. Two justices

dissented, saying the

case should be sent to a
trial court.
The ruling stemmed
from a lawsuit by
Pamela Argabrite, who
was injured in 2011
when burglary suspect
Andrew Barnharts
vehicle hit hers head-on
as he fled from Miami
Township and Montgomery County officers.
Barnhart died in the
crash.
Argabrites attorney

didnt immediately
respond to a request
for comment on the
ruling.
Ohio Attorney
General Mike DeWine
earlier this year
formed an advisory
group on law
enforcement vehicle
pursuits in an effort
to reduce deaths from
such chases. The group
urged training on best
practices and safety
techniques.

SAFETY: County ranks 12th highest in state for train-related accidents

to be closed, taking into
account nearby access
points to help promote
visibility and pedestrian mobility, she said.
Safety is at the core of
everything we do.
Both Lobin and a
Norfolk Southern representative said there
are currently no active
upgrades planned for
their company-operated
crossings in the county,
and none are set for
closure.

FROM PAGE 1

The state Public Utilities Commission, which

rules on safety standards at all crossings in
the state and can order
improvements, has
approved at least 3,200
railroad crossing safety
upgrades across Ohio in
the last 15 years and
175 last year, according
to the commission.
Ashtabula County
crossings saw seven
improvement projects
last year.
ADAPTING FOR
SAFETY
The single vehicle-related fatality reported
in December 2013
occurred at a Norfolk
Southern crossing along
Netcher Road in Denmark Township.
Brent Corron was
driving a truck and
trailer and reportedly
slid on snow into the
crossing. The train
struck the vehicles passenger side, killing his
cousin, 18-year-old Alva
Robert Corron. Brent
Corron was critically injured and hospitalized.
Vicky L. Moore,
founder of The Angels
on Track Foundation
of Salineville, told the
Star Beacon at the time
her rail safety education group had fielded
many concerns about
the crossing and began
calling for action because it is a dangerous
crossing.
Only one other vehicle-related incident was
reported there, in April
1997, and no one was
injured, according to
FRA incident reports.
When the 2013 fatal
accident occurred, the
crossing had no lights
or gate arms.Two
gate arms, four pairs
of flashing lights and
a warning bell were
added to the crossing
in May of this year,
according to an FRA
report close to three
years after the fatal
crash. That is the most
recent crossing upgrade
in the county, according
to the PUCO.
Two teens driving an
ATV in the early morning of Christmas Eve
2003 near a Norfolk
Southern crossing along
Tower Road in Dorset
Township were killed
when they collided with
a train that was stopped
on the tracks. Their
bodies were discovered
in an embankment near
the crossing.

WARREN DILLAWAY | STAR BEACON

A memorial to Devlin Tomsic remains intact along Sanborn Road near the site he was killed while walking on
railroad tracks near Lakeside High School in May of 2016.

According to county
Sheriffs Department
detectives, the area was
dark and also silent,
as the train locomotive
that pulled the cars had
left the area. Investigators said it appeared
they could not see the
train cars.
The Tower Road
crossing wasnt upgraded until sometime
between 2006 and 2009
the exact installation
date was not reported
and now features
two gate arms and
two pairs of flashing
lights, according to an
FRA report. However,
the crossings warning
devices wouldnt activate unless a train was
approaching.
Many more train
collisions in the county
involved pedestrians,
as reported by the Star
Beacon.
In July 2013, a
58-year-old man reportedly walking along
the tracks near the
U.S. Route 20 overpass
in Geneva Township
lost his balance as a
train approached, and
was struck and killed.
Alcohol appeared to be
a factor, investigators
said at the time.
On one early morning
in June 2014, a bicyclist
reportedly tripped on
the tracks at the Nathan Avenue crossing
in Ashtabula and was

struck by a slow-moving train. The man

sustained a severe leg
injury, but survived.
The FRA reported 11
vehicle-related collisions have occurred
at that crossing since
1975, but none were
fatal and most occurred
without injury. Gate
arms were added to the
crossing in 2000, but
the crossing was eventually closed in 2010,
according to an FRA
report.
In May of this year,
14-year-old Devlin
Tomsic of Saybrook
was killed by a train
near a Norfolk Southern
crossing at Sanborn
Road, near Lakeside
High School. Tomsic
was reportedly walking
west along the tracks,
listening to music, and
didnt hear the trains
whistle.
Authorities told the
Star Beacon some
Lakeside students
walked the tracks as a
shortcut to the school
and were cited, if
caught and at the
time, authorities believed Tomsic was late
for class.
Collisions involving
vehicles occurred at the
Sanborn Road
crossing in 1993 and
1983, according to an
FRA report. Another
report indicates 22
trains pass through

that crossing each day,

averaging between 40
to 60 mph.
SAFEST YEARS
ON RECORD
Federal statistics
show rail safety overall
has been improving
over the last three decades, with the last five
years the safest years
on record for the industry, and progress has
been made on reducing
the grade crossing collision rate, Ed Greenberg, spokesman for
the American Association of Railroads, told
the Star Beacon in an
email.
Unfortunately, too
many collisions still
occur and virtually all
of them are preventable
because traffic control
device measures have
been implemented
over the years, such as
distinct signage, accompanied in many
cases by lights, gates,
highway markings and
other warnings to alert
motorists they are
approaching a grade
crossing.
More than $600
billion has been spent
on modernizing rail
infrastructure and rail
equipment since 1980,
averaging $26 billion a
year, and $30 billion in
2015 alone, he said.
Greenberg also said
the industry has been

aggressive in public
education about rail
crossing safety.
The AAR, FRA, the
Federal Transit Administration and Operation
Lifesaver national
nonprofit dedicated to
rail safety education
together launched
the See Tracks? Think
Train campaign, producing adverts that put
crash-related statistics
in context.
Operators must also
take an active role in
making rail lines safer,
CSX representative Gail
Lobin said in an email
to the Star Beacon. She
said the company aggressively campaigns
to close or consolidate
crossings, because
one of the best ways to
address crossing safety
is to reduce the number
of crossings.
Lobin said the FRA
challenged states to
decrease the number of
highway-rail at-grade
crossings by 25 percent
in the mid-1990s, in
order to reduce crashes. CSX Transportation
operates 26 of the
countys 138 publicly
and privately owned
crossings.
So when a community requests a new
highway-rail at-grade
crossing, CSX requires
communities to identify three comparable
active grade crossings

QUIET ZONES
More than a decade
ago, Ashtabula city residents complained about
the regular blare of
train horns as locomotives pass through the
citys crossings, leading
city council to explore
but later abandon
the idea of establishing quiet zones, said
longtime councilman
August Pugliese.
Michelle Casey, of
Ashtabula, said horns
can be heard every
time a train goes by
my house, even though
its a dead end street
and there is no need to
blow the whistle, in a
post on the Star Beacon
Facebook page.
Dave Pidgeon, Norfolk
Southern spokesman,
told the Star Beacon
while its the operators
responsibility to follow
any quiet zone agreement with a municipality, it has weighed in on
the importance of the
horns. Some passenger
trains can reach up
to 110 mph, although
most freighters passing through Ashtabula
County max out at
about 60 mph.
The train horn and
the use of the train
horn is a critical safety device and, quite
frankly, can save a life,
Pidgeon said. They are
meant to warn pedestrians, vehicle drivers
even trespassers that
a train is coming.
Others dont seem to
mind the noise.
I love the history of
railroads in our area
in particular, my hometown in Conneaut, said
Conneaut resident Nick
Sanford, in the same
thread. The Conneaut
Yard of the Norfolk
Southern (formerly
Nickel Plate), while not
nearly as abuzz as it
was in its former life
some two generations
ago, still echoes across
town with every horn
blast.
And I love it.

JAIL: Former officer gets probation in inmate assault case

FROM PAGE 1

behalf.The matter
was set for arbitration,
but Sundquist did
not appear for a
hearing, and the date
was never rescheduled,
according to Sheriff

William Johnson.
Jail surveillance
footage shows
Sundquist assaulted
the inmate
whomhad flooded
his cell three separate times during the
incident: by holding his

head underneath the

water that had accumulated in the cell, forcing
the inmate through a
door as he was
being handcuffed, then
later pushing him up
against the wall of an
elevator.

Federal Bureau of
Investigation also
launched its own inquiry, and the county
charges were dismissed
on the expectation
federal charges would
be filed.
Iarocci said the

U.S. Attorney Generals

office notified
him in April of this
year that it would not
bring charges
against Sundquist,
and Iarocci refiled
the charges later that
month.

Iarocci declined
further comment on the
case. Johnson also
declined comment,
except to say that
his department was
ready to go to
trial, which was set
for Jan. 11.

BREAK: Plenty of activities to keep children busy

FROM PAGE 1

sessions are 7 to 10
p.m. Fridays and 1 to
4 p.m. Saturdays. Cost
is $5 on Friday and $4
Saturday. Skate rental
is $3.

Roll with it.

Lake Shore Lanes,
2234 Lake Ave.,
will host its annual New
Years Eve party from
9 p.m. to midnight
Saturday. Cost is $15
and includes bowling,

soda, snacks, bingo,

door prizes and
music. Call 440-9931172. Bring in a group
of 10 and get a free
pizza.
Take a walk outside.
While most of the

snow melted on
Monday when the temperature rose to
59 degrees, forecasters
say an inch of snow
could fall over the
next several days
depending on the wind

the rest of the week.

Children love snow, so
let them get out and
enjoy it.
If it doesnt
snow, area basketball
players can enjoy
the new basketball

courts along West Avenue.

If all else fails, listen
to holiday music. Let
the little ones dance,
sing and play to music
that they only hear once
a year.